Wednesday, March 5, 1986/The Battalion/Page 9
Agency fills physical, emotional needs
Pet CAR.E. extends aid to animals
By KIRSTEN DIETZ
Assistant City Editor
People who have thousands of dollars to pro
vide for the care of their pets now have a place to
spend it.
The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medi
cine is offering a new option for pet owners who
can no longer care for their animals.
Pet C.A.R.E. (Companion Animal Retirement
and Education Center), a non-profit agency, ac
cepts any species, although dogs, cats and horses
are the primary companion animals.
“We are trying to provide the service because
we feel sure that there are many dog, cat and
horse lovers that we feel sure would like to en
sure their animal of care, just as they do their
children,” says Dr. Edwin W. Ellett, director of
the center, who also is professor of veterinary
small animal medicine and surgery at the college.
To enter a pet in Pet C.A.R.E., the owner do
nates a set rate to the A&M Development Foun
dation — $15,000 for a cat, $20,000 for a dog or
$50,000 fora horse. Interest from the fund pro
vides the pet’s day-to-day care for the rest of its
life.
Currently, the Pet C.A.R.E. facilities can be
seen only on the drawing board. The program’s
development has taken 1'/a years, since the day
the college received a letter f rom an Illinois vet
erinarian, a graduate of the college.
“She said that she had always had the Texas
A&M Veterinary College in her will and that she
had gathered together several animals and
wanted to increase the amount in her will suffi
ciently, so Texas A&M could take care of the ani
mals,” Ellett says.
However, her ideas of how to do that weren’t
consistent with University requirements.
“Because of that beginning,” Ellett says, “we
have devised this whole program."
Development took so long, he says, because
too many groups had to agree on the proposed
plans — the Pet C.A.R.E. board of directors, the
development foundation, the University’s legal
office, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the
state and the Internal Revenue Service.
“But we think we’ve got it now,” Ellett says.
Next begins the work of finding enough ac
ceptable means of funding so construction can
begin. If all goes well, Ellett estimates the needed
funds could be available as soon as this month or
April. The facility will be built on 40 acres of land
west of A&M.
“We have a number of people who are inter
ested in investing in the land and the building,”
he says. “We have to have a number of
agreements in hand before people are going to
want to put up the kind of money we’re talking
about to buy the facilities and the land.”
Ellett stresses that the animals will have sepa
rate and spacious quarters of at least 24 square
feet each instead of being kept in cages. Like
many human adoption agencies, Pet C.A.R.E.
will allow pets from the same family, even if they
are different species, to stay together. The pet
family will share the same quarters and be sepa
rated from other animals. Outside, runs will sep
arate the animals while they exercise, but the ani
mals will be allowed to interact.
Hired animal technicians will give the animals
individualized attention and affection and pro
vide the animal’s daily care. In addition, the ani
mal will receive complete medical and surgical
care from a resident veterinarian plus access to
the specialists and facilities of A&M’s College of
Veterinary Medicine. Nutritious food or special
diets also will be available.
A foster home option will give the pet a second
chance to experience home life while making a
senior citizen happy.
“We anticipate that most of our foster homes
will be with senior citizens on a limited income
who really feel they cannot afford to have a pet,”
Ellett says. “On the agreement of the original
owner and of Pet C.A.R.E., a specific home will
be designated as a foster home for a specific ani
mal. But everybody has to agree to it. When the
original owner is no longer able to provide care,
the pet will go to the foster home and they’ll pro
vide the love, the sheltering and the daily care.
Pet care will pay the expense of the food and vet
erinary care.
“We also expect to have people who are ambu
latory from the rest homes come out and have an
animal they could pet for a little while.”
When the animal dies, Pet C.A.R.E. will pro
vide cremation and/or burial and a marker in a
pet cemetary close to the facility. The remainder
of the original owner’s fund will go to the College
of Veterinary Medicine to fund medical advances
in animal health, for scholarships to the college’s
students and to benefit other animals at the fa
cility.
Pets are not the only ones who will benefit
from the Pet C.A.R.E. program. The owner’s ini
tial endowment carries an income tax reduction
and, if the owmer has died, the gift carries no es
tate tax. But Ellett says he realizes that most of
the older donors don’t benefit from an income
tax deduction, so he is looking into a new method
of payment similar to insurance payments.
“We’re tryng to establish a new means of fund
ing of annuities of a lesser amount that carry no
income tax deduction, but that are paid over pe
riod of years consistent to the life expectancy of
the individual,” he says. “It would grow to the
amount necessary to provide the care.”
Ellett says the agency is running a cost analysis
on the payment method. If it is approved, Pet
C.A.R.E. will probably get the funding it needs to
begin construction, he says.
Ellett presented the Pet C.A.R.E. concept to
about nine other colleges of veterinary medicine
at a recent national convention.
“These colleges are an essential part of the
care of animals,” he says. “When ours is fully un
derway, we will offer it to other colleges that wish
to institute Pet C.A.R.E. facilities.”
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Post Oak Village
Edwards to have different lawyer for retrial
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — James Neal,
the courtly Tennessee lawyer who
defended Gov. Edwin Edwards in a
racketeering trial that ended in a
mistrial Dec. 18, will be Unable to re
peat his performance when a retrial
begins March 24.
Camille Gravel, Edwards’ other
lawyer in the case, said Tuesday that
Neal will be replaced by Michael
Fawer, a New Orleans attorney who
successfully defended one of Ed
wards’ co-defendants in the first
trial.
Neal is defending movie director
John Landis on involuntary man
slaughter charges stemming from
the death of three actors during the
filming of “Twilight Zone — The
Movie.
Neal was unable to convince a Cal
ifornia judge on Monday to delay
the start of the trial beyond June 24.
In other developments, federal
prosecutors have filed an amended
indictment in the Edwards case,
dropping two mail fraud and two
wire fraud charges against Edwards
and two of his co-defendants.
However, Edwards, Ron Falgout
and James Wyllie Jr., still face one
count each of racketeering and 45
counts each of mail and wire fraud
in connection with a $10 million hos
pital investment venture.
Edwards’ brother Marion still
faces one racketeering count and
nine mail and wire fraud counts.
Shreveport businessman Gus Mijalis
still faces one racketeering and three
mail fraud counts in the case.
In the first trial, which lasted 14
weeks, U.S. District Judge Marcel
Livaudais declared three defendants
— Charles Isbell, Perry Segura and
Philip Brooks — innocent on all
charges. Fawer represented Brooks;
. The jury later Jfound Marion Ed
wards innocent on 41 counts. But,
although most jurors voted to acquit
all defendants, they couldn’t reach a
unanimous decision on the remain
ing nine counts against Marion, or
on any of the other charges against
the other defendants.
The defendants are charged with
engaging in a scheme in which fed
eral prosecutors say they illegally ob
tained state approval for health care
projects in which they held interest.
They sold the projects for $10 mil
lion, the bulk of the money going to
The Edwards brothers, Wyllie and
Falgout.
Mtu
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GET RICH
THE HARD WAY.
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To qualify, you must:
• Be at least 22 years old
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• Have a stable employment history
• Be college educated or have
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• Have little or no food service
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You will receive:
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invite you to call or send your resume and find out more about us. You will be
amazed at the proven earnings potential of a career with Luby’s.
Interviewing in your placement center
Wed. & Thurs., March 12 8c 13,1986
or call Steve Schafer or Dave Simpson
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(No collect calls please) or write RO. Box 33069
San Antonio, Texas 78265
Luby’s Cafeterias, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with sales
exceeding $175 million last year.
Luby
Good food from good people.
LUBY S CAFETERIAS, INC. 2211 N.E. LOOP 410, P.0. BOX 33069, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 78265
Loby * is a Registered Trademark of L.uby’s Cafeterias, Inc.
Battalion Classified 845-2611
Filing for Spring Election
Wednesday, March 5
thru
Friday, March 7
Student Government,
OCA,
RHA, Yell Leaders,
CLASS COUNCIL,
Graduate Council
214 Pavilion 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
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